1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to the wireless transmission of data collected from instrumentation, in particular, meteorological instrumentation that is contained in a weather station.
2. Description of the Related Art
Weather stations for home and private industry use are well known in the art. The use of such stations, whether for amateur meteorologists or for businesses requiring a precise record of the local conditions, enables a user to collect, record, process and display accurate weather data. Representative of a complete weather station is model WS1000, made by RainWise, Inc. of Bar Harbor, Me. This apparatus will record inside and outside temperature, relative humidity, barometric pressure, wind direction and speed, and rainfall. It is also able to calculate wind chill and store maximums and minimums. Typically, the sensing unit, which houses the weather measuring transducers, is mounted on a mast that is preferably placed in a high location, such as a roof top, so that unobstructed wind speed and direction can be accurately measured. Of course, such a mounting requires that a direct electrical connection exist between the sensing unit and the display/processing unit, which is located inside. In addition to presenting a potential problem from lightning strikes, wiring the necessary cable between the two units is the most difficult and expensive part of what should otherwise be a rather simple installation.
Another example of such a unit is the WEATHER MONITOR II manufactured by Davis Instruments of Hayward, Calif. This device also features several weather sensing transducers, which are mounted on an outside location and then connected to the display by a cable.
A direct electrical connection between the data collection section of the weather station and the data processing/display portion of the unit can often be difficult to achieve, especially when the unit is being used as a home weather station.
It is well known in the art to use a radio transmitter/receiver in situations where it is desirable to have information collected at one location and sent to another location without the need of a direct electrical connection between the two locations. In addition to eliminating the need for connecting a cable between the transmitting data collection assembly and receiving weather data processing unit, the use of such a system also enables the data to be utilized by a number of receiving units. However, a weather station presents a unique set of problems that make present transmitter/receiver systems unsuitable for this task.
If the transmitter is to be powered by AC, then a direct electrical connection is still required. Providing wiring for power to the transmitter presents a similar set of problems to those found when attempting to directly connect the sensor probes to the processing/display unit.
The use of storage batteries to provide power to the transmitter introduces the additional problem of having to frequently service the weather data collection unit to replace the batteries. As noted above, ideally the mast that houses the weather data collection sensors/probes is placed on top of a roof or other location that is not easily accessible and is difficult to reach. Therefore, having to frequently change batteries is an additional burden. Storage batteries charged by solar panels such that both are sufficiently large so that frequent changing is unnecessary, adds significantly to the cost of the equipment and presents additional problems of mounting such a heavy structure atop a roof.